Looking for Job Security

My business is experiencing a major lull. I have been offered a salaried position that is half of what I need to meet my financial obligations. This is one of the more difficult decisions I have faced. Can you help?
I can’t tell you what to do, but I can help you with the decision process.
First: Many would suggest that a “bird in hand” should dictate your decision. If you can take this position temporarily and make up the shortfall with accumulated savings, this “bird in hand” might be the answer. If not, consider the following options.
Second: Many of us who are self-employed are so busy “doing” our business that we neglect “building” the business. Be honest - evaluate what specific and consistent ways you build your business. Just handing out a card to someone who knows someone who then knows someone else who might need your services sometime in the next 50 years is not building the business.
Have you been exposing yourself to businesses that could use your services on a regular basis? Joining and attending meetings for association and professional organizations allow you to hobnob with those who can introduce you to potential customers.
Do you advertise regularly in your local newspaper? Do you have a flyer that is periodically mailed out or distributed to potential customers? If none of these activities are part of your business ritual, then you are “doing” business - not “building” business.
Third: Assuming you do not take the “job”, you need to bite the bullet and start the “building” activities now. Unless you have the energy and drive to work full time for someone else and market your own business after hours, you must make a choice.
Your commitment, should you risk it, is to wake up every morning, get dressed and go to work finding business. If you do that daily, you will find work. It may not be the big project, but several smaller projects tend to build a stronger business foundation anyway.
If you can’t make this commitment, take the job offered and deal with the financial consequences over time. Being self-employed is not glamorous. It takes skill to balance all the responsibilities required daily of an owner. Working for someone else allows you to show up, work hard, and go home with no further responsibilities except to show up again the next day. Be honest about who you are and what you really want before making this decision.